


the butterfly effect

by FancifulRivers



Category: Steven Universe (Cartoon)
Genre: Angst with a Happy Ending, F/F, Future Vision is a blessing and a curse, Introspective Sapphire, Pearl thinks tea fixes everything, Sapphire still has a lot of feelings, Spoilers for Episode: s05e21 The Question
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-07-10
Updated: 2018-07-10
Packaged: 2019-06-08 13:47:17
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,023
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15244734
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/FancifulRivers/pseuds/FancifulRivers
Summary: Sapphire can't see a future where Ruby doesn't come back.But Sapphire never saw all of this either, did she.





	the butterfly effect

You stare down into your cooling cup of tea, Pearl silent and attentive at your elbow. You want to tell her to stop, because it reminds you too much of Homeworld, but it will only hurt her feelings if you do. It's not her fault that she's a pearl. It's not her fault what pearls are treated like.

It's not her fault what her Diamond chose to do.

You wanted to believe it was at first. You wanted to poof her, you wanted to scream at her until your throat was raw, you wanted to-

Well, you  _wanted_ to use her as a stand-in for Rose- for  _Pink_ , and that's not fair, is it. She's not Pink.

And she shouldn't be Pink's scapegoat, either.

But Ruby's still missing, and you don't know if she believes the horrible things you said, and you can't see where she is. In every future you can see, she comes back to you, but then again, you never saw all  _this_ happening, did you, so it's a little hard to believe your vision right now. 

_Don't ever question this. You already are the answer._

And you never questioned it. Didn't even  _think_ to question it. You love Ruby- more than anything in the universe, you love Ruby, and you don't regret becoming Garnet or saving her, you can never regret that- but you can't help but feel angry that a  _Diamond_ is the reason why.

Why  _shouldn't_ you have questioned it? You had never just  _accepted_ anything before in your life. Even on Homeworld. You did not rebel, but you always put it in its place, you always ordered things into the natural progression of time and the stream of your life. It only made  _sense_ to do so and every sapphire you knew felt the same way. It was part of being able to see into the future, to interpret things correctly.

Meeting Ruby- it shook all of that up. Instead of one simple, orderly stream, your life became a chaotic rainstorm of possible futures. You wouldn't have it any other way.  _Now_. But-

"I'm sorry," Pearl murmurs, disrupting your concentration. You look up and see her. Her head is bowed, and your back prickles at the uncomfortable reminder, again, of Homeworld.

"Why?" You ask. It is not her fault Ruby ran away. The fault there belongs, unfortunately, all to you.

"I should have told you sooner," she whispers. "I should have thought of- I should have made myself-"

"Your Diamond gave you an order," you remind her gently and hate saying it when she flinches. "You were her pearl. You  _couldn't_. I'm just glad I know the truth  _now_. She should have told us. Herself."

"I wanted her to," Pearl admits. "It was so- so lonely, and then, when she met Greg..." Pearl's voice fades, her shoulders hunching inward. You can guess what she's getting at. When Rose chose to give up her form, leaving Pearl behind. The only one who knew her immense, terrible secret.

_Only a Diamond._

Perhaps you are being unfair to Rose. To Pink. By Pearl's account, she tried to do things as herself. She was ignored and brushed aside by her fellow Diamonds. You have always tried to hold up his mother's memory to Steven, but you know she could be quite...impulsive. Is it any wonder then, what she chose to do? Is it any wonder she ensured no one would ever know, by ordering her pearl?

"You never got to choose, did you," you voice. Pearl bites her lip and doesn't say anything. She doesn't need to.

"I would have," she finally says. But that's not the same, and you both know it. She should have gotten that chance.

The door bangs open, Steven filling the gap. You jump to your feet.

"Steven!" You exclaim. "Did you find Ruby?"

Steven looks up. You can't recognize the look on his face.

"She's outside," he says. "She's got something to say to you." You wince. You can imagine what. It doesn't stop you from running outside, anyway.

"Ruby, I'm so sorry!" You blurt out, as soon as you see her, sitting astride Amethyst's shape-shifted back. "I should have never said those awful things to you. That we didn't matter anymore. I- I shouldn't have pushed you away like that. I was wrong."

Ruby looks down at you, then spits to the side.

"Naw," she says. "You were right."

Your heart freezes. Is this- was your future vision wrong-

She jumps off Amethyst's back, landing before you. A cowboy hat obscures most of her face.

"Someone else told us we were the answer," Ruby continues. "But...I don't believe that anymore. At least, not until I hear it from you." She holds out one hand, and dazed, you take it. Ruby kneels in front of you. It feels like your thoughts have short-circuited. You don't know where this is going. Where any of this is going. 

"Sapphire," Ruby says. Her hat blows away in a stray gust of wind as she looks up. "Will you marry me?"

"What?" You splutter. "Marry you?"

"Yeah!" Ruby says. Her face heats up with a happy blush. "This way, we can be together, even when we're apart! This time, being Garnet will be  _our_ decision! What do you say?" As if there's anything else you  _could_ say.

"Of course," you tell her.

"Yee haw!" She yells out, jumping to her feet and hugging you tightly. You didn't realize how much you missed her presence until you feel her arms around you, slotting in a warmth you've missed the entire time you've been apart.

"I've been waiting to kiss your cute face," you admit, peppering her cheeks with kisses. She giggles and twirls you, tossing you up in the air. It's like fusing, but you don't become Garnet.

Ruby has a point, saying you can be together, even when you're apart, you think, giddy with kisses and the feel of the wind blowing through your hair and Ruby catching you. Always catching you.

Maybe the timeline where Ruby becomes a cowboy is the best one, after all.


End file.
